About

Illumination: The Art of Lee White

$14,514

pledged of $11,579 goal

205

backers

Hi! I'm Lee White, and I need your help bringing a book of my artwork to life.

After illustrating more than 20 published children's books for the big guns in New York (including Penguin Putnam, Scholastic, Candlewick, and more), I wanted to share some of the work I do for myself, when I am not busy trying to keep my art directors happy : )

Over the past 5 years or so, I have put together quite a collection of images and thought it would be fun to share in a hardcover book. People always ask me about the inspiration behind my work so this seemed like a great place to share that with you. Many of these images can be found on my website at www.leewhiteillustration.com

The book will be called, “Illumination: The Art of Lee White.” The title comes from my most liked image ever, the fellow on a bicycle with a good bottle of wine and a little illumination from above. Here are the details:

• Illumination will be a hardcover coffee table book that showcases all my personal work over the past 5 years or so, when I first started painting in watercolor.

• Illumination will contain beautiful, high resolution images of the finished paintings, along with the stories behind the images, the preliminary sketches, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

• Illumination will be 8x10 inches and 124 pages long.

• Illumination will include lots of kitty cats!

Speaking of cats, here's a quick painting demo!:

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One of the things I really wanted to do with this book is highlight the process of making the finished paintings. Many ugly sketches are explored and discarded along the way. I like sharing this process with people. It shows that there is a "building" phase that images go through. Hazy, rough ideas are cleaned up, polished, and finally painted as a finished piece. I wanted to invite you inside my studio to see how this all happens.

And I wanted to share who all these characters are in the paintings. What are they doing and where did they come from? This is the storytelling aspect of illustration that I love exploring in my work.

All the artwork is already made. The next step is to design the book, and write all the copy.

Books are expensive to make. What I'm asking for in this campaign barely covers the cost of printing the book and shipping it out. There are also other fees associated with it, like storing 3,000 books, shipping supplies, etc.

If I am lucky enough to exceed my funding goal of $11,579, I will use that money to fund more copies of the book. The price I'm campaigning for is the bare minimum order, but it's much more cost effective if I order more copies during the printing process.

Also, I'll be adding stretch goals to make the book even nicer. Adding a spot varnish, dust jacket, and maybe even deckled edges would be super cool!

Kickstarter fundraising: October 26 to November 28 2016Design and pre-press: October and November 2016Send to printer: December 2016Proofing: January 2017Shipping to fulfillment center: February 2017Shipping to backers: March 2017

Note: I will try as hard as I can to make this happen faster, but this is a pretty realistic timeline for a book like this. Some of the children's books I've worked on took longer than a year! I will definitely keep you updated along the way : )

If you found this page, you probably already know a little about me, but just in case, here is some background:

I have illustrated a over 20 children's books, including What Are You Glad About? What Are You Mad About? and The Lost Track of Time. His latest, Emma and the Whale, will be released in March 2017.

I have also done commercial work for various clients, including Marks & Spencer, Amazon, Laika, United Airlines, Verizon, Disney and National Geographic. He is represented by Rodeen Literary Management and Spinning Yarn Illustration Agency.

My personal work is shown at various galleries and art fairs throughout the year.

I teach all of my watercolor secrets via the Society of Visual Storytelling, an online art school for artists of all skill levels.

I graduated with honors from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, and earned an MFA in illustration, also with honors, from the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

I live with my wife, little boy and grumpy old cat in a 100-year-old house in Portland, Oregon.

For those who are not familiar with how Kickstarter works, the idea is to help fund a project on the front end, in return you get various rewards (and my eternal gratitude!), depending on how much you pledge.

The whole purpose of this campaign is to fund the printing of 2,000 hardcover books, but the rewards include some fun extras, including: • your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you• a digital version of the book
• a painting demo video • 4 different signed 8x10 prints only available to Kickstarter backers • original paintings at less than retail

I hope there is something here for everyone who is interested in my work!

Here's a visual breakdown of the different Reward Tiers:

Level 1 (MAKIN' THA' LIST) $10• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 2 (DIGITAL DELIGHT) $20• Digital version of the book • Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 3 (LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!) $30• Downloadable painting demo video • Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 4 (HARDCOVER HAPPINESS) $40• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 1) $60• One signed, limited edition 8"x10" print (Butterflies) • One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 2)
$60• One signed, limited edition 8"x10" print (Illumination) • One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 3) $60• One signed, limited edition 8"x10" print (Message)• One hardcover copy of the book • Downloadable painting demo video• Digital version of the book• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 4) $60• One signed, limited edition 8"x10" print (Walking In The Snow) • One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 6 (SEEIN' DOUBLE) $75•Two hardcover copies of the book• Downloadable painting demo video• Digital version of the book• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 7 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 5) $100• All four signed, limited edition 8"x10" prints • One hardcover copy of the book• Downloadable painting demo video• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 8 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- GROUP 1) $275• Original small watercolor painting (see here)• Email me at l.white@leewhiteillustration.com to let me know which painting you would like so I can remove it from the list• One hardcover copy of the book • Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book • Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 9 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- GROUP 2)$650• Framed and matted original watercolor painting (see here) • Email me at l.white@leewhiteillustration.com to let me know which painting you would like so I can remove it from the list• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Level 10 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- GROUP 3) $1400• Framed and matted original watercolor painting (see here)• Email me at l.white@leewhiteillustration.com to let me know which painting you would like so I can remove it from the list• One hardcover copy of the book • Downloadable painting demo video • Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

My goal is to make this book beautiful and share it with you. I hope you will join me on this journey and order today. Let me know if you have any questions along the way. : )

I am very grateful for your support.

Cheers,Lee

Risks and challenges

The main challenge is staying on top of the timeline : )
Luckily, I have a lot of experience taking illustrated books to a finish, so if anything comes up, I am sure I will figure out a workaround.
Also, all of the artwork for the book is already done. All that needs to be done is to write the copy and design the book!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 1)

• One signed 8x10 print (Butterflies)
See image here: http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/-/galleries/new-gallery/-/medias/ab68abb2-ceeb-4a92-ba12-068bdf676ab9-butterflies
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 2)

• One signed 8x10 print (Illumination)
See image here: http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/-/galleries/new-gallery/-/medias/17f2aa3c-5152-11e2-957e-afbcb798ecba-illumination
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 3)

• One signed 8x10 print (Message)
See image here: http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/-/galleries/new-gallery/-/medias/26620596-1137-4996-ae96-097e3f21e984-message
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

Level 5 (PRINTS AND THE REVOLUTION 4)

• One signed 8x10 print (Walking in the Snow)
See image here: http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/-/galleries/new-gallery/-/medias/6a414dd6-5150-11e2-8c87-9fb574cd33da-walking-in-the-snow
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $275 or more
About $275

Level 8 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- Group 1)

• Original watercolor painting (see available at http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/kickstarter-originals)
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $650 or more
About $650

Level 9 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- Group 2)

• Framed and matted original watercolor painting (see available at http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/kickstarter-originals)
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,400 or more
About $1,400

Level 10 (YOU'RE AN ORIGINAL- Group 3)

• Framed and matted original watercolor painting (see available at: http://www.leewhiteillustration.com/-/galleries/kickstarter-originals)
• Significantly less than gallery prices
• One hardcover copy of the book
• Downloadable painting demo video
• Digital version of the book
• Your name printed in the back of the book as a thank you